ICICI Bank Q2 net profit up 15 per cent

MUMBAI, Oct 30 (Reuters): ICICI Bank Ltd, India's biggest private sector lender, reported a record quarterly profit on Thursday that beat analyst estimates, but bad loans rose and sent its shares lower.
Net profit rose 15 per cent to Rs 2,709 crore ($440.88 million) for its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, the Mumbai-based lender said in a statement. Analysts on average had expected a net profit of Rs 2,693 crore for ICICI Bank, which is also listed in New York.
Indian lenders are betting on a revival in economic growth under a new government to boost demand for corporate lending after credit growth hit a decade low, hurt by two straight years of less than 5 per cent economic expansion.